Bolton Wanderers chairman Ken Anderson reveals pre-match pep talk against Sheffield Wednesday did the trick

Wanderers’ owner and chairman stepped – rather reluctantly – into the hallowed space of the dressing room before kick-off against Sheffield Wednesday to address Phil Parkinson’s squad.

His message of support clearly had the desired effect as the Whites registered their first win of the season at the 12th attempt in one of the most dramatic fixtures played at the stadium in recent years.

But Anderson will be happy to watch the team register back-to-back wins in the Championship for the first time since Boxing Day 2014 from the comfort of the directors’ box.

“I felt like I’d said what I needed to on the manager, shown him my support, but I wanted to tell the players I believed in them too,” he told The Bolton News.

“I am not a knee-jerk reaction type of person. If I had seen a group of players who were not playing for their manager then I wouldn’t have been so unequivocal with what I had said on the subject.

“I knew some of the players had been having a hard time, so I went down before the game and had a word.

“It was nothing Churchillian, just something to say I thought they could do it.”

Anderson has given his manager and coaching staff space to make their own decisions in the last 18 months and has more often been willing to talk about the business side of the club than what is happening on the pitch.

And he continues to have complete faith Parkinson can build on the Wednesday win, even if he would prefer a more comfortable margin of victory.

“When the board went up for stoppage time and then their player went down injured it was probably the longest nine minutes of my life,” he said.

“It was a great game but I won’t be making a habit of speaking with the players. I am not the type of chairman who wants to interfere.

“When I gave Phil the job I said I’d probably not speak to him after games because that’s when people say things they later regret. And I still don’t!”

Anderson freely admits his pockets are not as deep as many of his contemporaries at Championship level and revealed earlier in the week that he is in negotiations with two foreign-based bidders about investment which could help take the Whites on to “the next level.”

In the meantime, he feels confident that having cleared a long injury list, Wanderers can now give a truer reflection of themselves in the second tier.

“Given the size of the squad it has been difficult coping with the injuries which have come our way but now we’ve got players like Josh Vela back I think it looks a lot healthier,” he said.

“I think Karl Henry has been a masterstroke and he has even brought a big improvement out of Darren Pratley, who I think had a terrific game against Sheffield Wednesday.

“You know I’m not a fan of statistics but I believe the ones I wrote in my column the other day are relevant. It’s 40 points for safety in the Premier League, 46 in the Championship and 74 to 75 for the play-offs. And at the time I spoke to the players, we needed something like 1.25 points per game to reach the average required to stay up in the last 15 years.

“I think it opened a few people’s eyes to the fact it’s achievable.

“Yes, it has been a difficult start for everybody but it isn’t a foregone conclusion that we are going to be down at the bottom of the table all season. I like to set my sights higher and be more optimistic than that.

“As with any newly-promoted club the first thing you should want to secure is your place in the division and I am no different. I would be pleased if we finished one place above the bottom three because it would mean we have done the job we set out to do.

“Having that little bit of belief after that result has given everyone a boost and it isn’t doom and gloom. You never know where we might end up.”

Wanderers have around 10 weeks until the January window opens and Anderson has his own targets for heading into the New Year.

“I think we can be out of the bottom three and climbing by January,” he added.